Population Council Research that makes a difference

Abstract

The Ghana Community-based Health Planning and Services Initiative for scaling up service delivery innovation (PDF) (HTML) 
Nyonator,Frank K.; Awoonor-Williams,John Koku; Phillips,James F.; Jones,Tanya C.; Miller,Robert A.
Health Policy and Planning 20(1): 25-34
Publication date: 2005

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Research projects demonstrating ways to improve health services often fail to have an impact on whatnational health programmes actually do. An approach to evidence-based policy development has beenlaunched in Ghana which bridges the gap between research and programme implementation. Afternearly two decades of national debate and investigation into appropriate strategies for service deliveryat the periphery, the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Initiative has employedstrategies tested in the successful Navrongo experiment to guide national health reforms that mobilizevolunteerism, resources and cultural institutions for supporting community-based primary health care.Over a 2-year period, 104 out of the 110 districts in Ghana started CHPS. This paper reviews thedevelopment of the CHPS initiative, describes the processes of implementation and relates the initiativeto the principles of scaling up organizational change which it embraces. Evidence from the nationalmonitoring and evaluation programme provides insights into CHPS' success and identifies constraintson future progress.

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